DJI Osmo Action

That is such a great price for everything that comes packed into this camera, especially given the fact that you could go on a vacation. Go somewhere ...

So this pretty much sums up. My initial impressions of the DJI Osmo action, I'm gon na, say that after using it for a few weeks, I'm pretty happy with...

*The SD card in the battery/screen attachment stops working if that battery goes flat. *No longer waterproof with the attachments, so you’re either stuck with a tiny battery / 32gb storage, or have to go back to 2012 using a plastic housing - no thanks. *the overall form factor just seems clunky for general travel or as an action camera (imo).

Its overall video quality is worse, and its digital stabilization feature incurs an even greater crop on your videos, though it does an excellent job of reducing camera shake. Get the GoPro if you want a wider array of frame rates and resolutions, but if you're looking to save some money on a solid action camera for sports video, the DJI is a good alternative.

Big memory cards are cheap so probably not important. I had a Hero 7 Black one for a while and it was terribly unreliable - it would crash all the time, and once it locked up when browsing the menus when I wanted to factory reset to try and fix it! I searched and found it was common, so I just sold it and got a DJI Osmo Action, which has been absolutely rock solid, albeit not quite as good image quality. (Although a good quality video is no good if it crashed 5 minutes in) edit: Oh yes, and the UI was incredibly slow, it was like wading through treacle.

The DJI Osmo Action is the best GoPro alternative that we've tested. It's one of the few GoPro alternatives to match the exceptional build quality of GoPro cameras, with a sturdy construction that's advertised to withstand temperatures as low as -10°C (14°F). It's also waterproof to an advertised depth of 11m (36 ft)

If you consider the timing, Osmo Action was a Hero7 response, competed against the 8 where it won in usability with the screen, but tied or lost in output quality performance, so against the 9 it is more significantly under-performing. For your specific context, the low light consideration is worth thinking about, but the major difference there is the Hero9's increased sensor size making it very slightly darker in low light. If this is the majority of your filming context, you would probably want to consider a Hero8 vs an Osmo Action, instead.

Unfortunately, the Osmo Action doesn’t have GPS or an HDMI port. Having GPS enables you to add overlays that include your speed and even a map, and it’s a shame that’s missing here. HDMI is really nice for quickly looking at footage on a big screen after a long day on the slopes, or even using an external monitor

If you're going to step back to the Hero 6, I'd get the Osmo Action. Hell, even with the wife's GoPro 7 and 8, I have to pull the battery to reset them frequently. The lockups are aggravating. The Osmo has never glitched once.

All told, the DJI Osmo Action is an excellent first effort, and a camera that will appeal to many, especially since it costs about $50 less than the Hero7 Black.